The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has understandably affected the manufacturing of certain tech components. One of the most high profile so far has been Kureha Corp. which manufactures a PVDF polymer used in small devices like the iPod touch. It cannot get the materials it needs at the moment due to a local port being destroyed so it can’t manufacture PVDF. The knock-on effect of that is Apple may run out of iPod batteries.

Looking longer term and you realize that manufacturing downtime could also impact the launch of new devices too. The PSP 2 is no exception, and even though a launch isn’t expected until November, Sony has started warning everyone that we may not see the new handheld released in all markets before the end of 2011. In fact, the PSP 2 may become a product of 2012.

The first comments made about this have come from Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA). While it’s pretty certain a global launch in 2011 is out of the question now, one region may still get the device in 2011. Whether that’s Asia, Europe, or the U.S. has yet to be decided, though.

The one upside of a delayed launch is more games to play from day one, or at the very least developers of launch games will have more time to test and improve those titles.

I think if Sony has to pick one region to ship to first it will be the U.S. That of course depends on the state of Japan, and if things are still difficult there it isn’t the right time to launch a new device. Europe is always difficult because of having to split stock between different countries and cater for several languages. So at the moment I think the U.S. is the strongest contender to get the PSP 2 before 2011 is over.

Saying that, I don’t think anyone would complain if the device didn’t appear until 2012 everywhere. Japan has a lot of rebuilding to do, and manufacturing in some areas is going to remain tight. I bet if the 3DS was going to launch in Japan after instead of before the earthquake hit, Nintendo would have delayed the launch by a few weeks or probably months.

Reader Comments

hodar

Or, instead of dropping $299 for the PSP2, and then dropping $60-80/game and living with a battery life of around 1-2 hour…

I could get a iPod Touch, buy games from Free-$9.99 and enjoy a battery life of several hours – for less than half the cost. Plus, I can stream Netflix, listen to my music, watch movies on it, email, surf the web.

And what else will be readily available with iOS 5, we haven’t a clue.

This product is going to face competition that is almost going to be impossible to beat. One wonders if it’s even worth the effort to take this to market.

john mosher

Somehow I don’t think that the PSP will be the only delayed release we see from products made in Japan. The one product I had the most anticipation for was the Canon EOS 5D MKIII but I bet that release will be delayed as well. The disruptions to product delivery will not just be to new products but also to those currently in production in Japan.

elfenstar

@Hodar
You obviously don’t know the gaming market then. Sure, many do enjoy games on our smartphones (and not just i devices thanks to the emulators on Android). HOWEVER, you really can’t beat many console games because of their complex storylines, better graphics, longer gameplay (the latter two thanks to big arse storage), etc.

Then there are controls. Touch screen vs dedicated physical buttons. The former can’t beat the latter for many games. Why do you think the Xperia play is coming out, not to mention that there are overlays to convert the keyboard of the Motorola Droid/Milestone into a gaming-pad?

As for battery life, I’m pretty sure I’ve spent far longer on a single charge playing God of War on my PSP than just 2 hours LOL, and it also means my smartphone can go longer without me needing to charge it.

If there’s anything that we’ve learnt from the ongoing smartphone wars, it is that it’s both of ease of use and content that are important, and its far easier to play a game on a handheld console than any touchscreen, plus handheld consoles do have far superior games (in terms of gameplay) to our smartphones.

hodar

@elphenstar

The NGP has a battery life of “4-6 hours”, but depending upon who you talk to, the numbers vary, with most saying 3-5 hours depending upon screen brightness and 3D gameplay..

My point is that the die-hard gamers will get one; but the percentages are going to be down, IMHO. Why? Because many kids are casual gamers; and for a bulk of the casual gamers – the time wasters found on the iPhone, iPod and iPads cost anywhere from free to $10(that’s about the top limit I’ve seen).

So, while 10 yrs ago, the origional Sony hand games had a crowd; they also has little competition. Today, there are a plethora of cheaper and better supported solutions on the market. There are not only more (albeit not as intense as GOW) games to chose from there is an infrastructure in place to rent movies and TV shows, music and read books, magazines and newspapers.

It used to be a game-player you had in your pocket; now it’s a totally different market. Game-play was once the market, now it’s multi-media, Facebook, and entertainment.